Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Cultureful
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taryn, Part 1. Mexican American - Farmers' Markets and Fur Coats | 23 Sep 2025 | 01:02:44 | |
In this episode, Jess Lin interviews Taryn, a third-generation Mexican American from Woodland, California and a Returned U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer. Taryn shares powerful stories about her grandparents’ migration from Mexico, their resilience as farmworkers, and the traditions that shaped her family’s life in California’s Central Valley. She reflects on her grandpa Eloy’s journey crossing the border, his time in the Marines, and his role in the Woodland community. On her father’s side, she recalls her grandpa Ramon’s determination as an orphan who built a thriving almond farm and helped start the Davis Farmers Market. Alongside these stories, Taryn remembers her grandmothers’ influence, her parents’ experiences growing up in agricultural towns, and the cultural traditions that continue today. This is Part 1 of 2. Stay tuned for the continuation of Taryn’s story and reflections on identity, culture, and belonging. Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/L0I4HrQ9rP4 Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Aisha, Part 4. Pakistani American - Eid, Mehndi, and Motherhood | 09 Sep 2025 | 00:48:28 | |
In Part 4 of Aisha’s story, we follow her into adulthood as she marries her husband and begins a new chapter back in Pakistan. She shares the culture shock of adjusting to a different city, trying to break glass ceilings, and the challenges of navigating career and motherhood. Aisha also reflects on her identity as a Muslim feminist, how she celebrates Eid, and what it means to find home across cultures and geographies. This episode explores themes of marriage, motherhood, gender roles, Pakistani culture, feminism, and the evolving search for belonging. Full episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/LkI_GqB_Ci4 Follow Aisha: On Instagram @aishafsarwari and @heart_tantrums Her memoir is called Heart Tantrums and Brain Tumours and can be ordered on from Hurst Publishers at https://www.hurstpublishers.com/profile/aisha-sarwari/ Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Tina, Part 1. Taiwanese Chinese American - A cut above the rest | 29 Jan 2025 | 00:48:40 | |
In this special bonus episode of Cultureful, host Jess Lin speaks with Tina, a 37-year-old Taiwanese Chinese American tech project manager from Fremont, California. The episode delves into the first half of Tina's life, covering her parents' immigration story from Taiwan, her upbringing, and the background of her family. Tina shares insights about her family's moves from China to Vietnam to Taiwan and eventually to the U.S., and discusses how her parents' cultural backgrounds influenced their lives and hers. The episode also touches on Tina's childhood, her experiences in school, navigating cultural differences, and her relationship with her parents. The conversation sets the stage for the second half of the interview, which will focus on Tina's intercultural marriage and raising her three multicultural children. Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Angie, Colombiana - Rehacerme | 21 Jan 2025 | 01:01:20 | |
Esta entrevista fue grabada en octubre de 2023. Mientras se acerca su cumpleaños 40, reflexiona en su vida. Hablamos de su ciudad natal, niñez, viaje personal y profesional, también proyectos nuevos que empieza en su nuevo capítulo de vida. Espero que lo disfruten. Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Angie, Colombian - Remake myself | 21 Jan 2025 | 00:42:37 | |
This episode was originally recorded in Spanish in October 2023. Para la versión original de este episodio, que fue grabada en español, regresa al feed y haz clic en el título en español. To share this content with more people, this English version was created with AI tools like Eleven Labs. Though there may be differences in tone and delivery, we hope the message still resonates. In this episode, I interview my friend Angie G. from Colombia. She is a lawyer and linguist, currently in a PhD program in Northern California that combines her two careers to make legal language more accessible to the general public. As her 40th birthday approached, she reflected on her life. We talked about her hometown, childhood, personal and professional journeys, and also current projects in this new chapter of her life. This interview was both insightful and vulnerable. Thank you for listening! Connect with us on Instagram @thecultureful. Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Tonisha, Part 2. Black American - Serving in the United States Air Force | 26 Dec 2024 | 00:38:56 | |
Keywords Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Tonisha, Part 1. Black American - Serving in the U.S. Air Force | 23 Dec 2024 | 00:48:04 | |
Keywords identity, heritage, family stories, military aspirations, Black woman in the military, genealogy, cultural identity, personal history, military experiences, representation Summary Tonisha, 42, explores her identity as a Black American and the rich cultural heritage of her family. She recounts fascinating stories about her grandfather, who influenced her aspirations to join the military. Tonisha reflects on her early career choices, the challenges she faced as a Black woman in a male-dominated military environment, and the importance of representation in various fields. Through her experiences, she highlights the complexities of identity, family history, and the impact of personal narratives on career paths. Check out Tonisha’s current work on plant care on Instagram @the.plantnanny and connect with her. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Introduction 03:13 Ethnic Identity, Family Stories, and Genealogy 05:26 Grandpa's Roots 09:34 Memories with Grandpa 12:29 Military Influence on Childhood 16:32 Impact of Kid-Friendly Military Stories 20:28 Talking About Military with Younger Generation 21:22 Community Respect for Grandpa 22:11 Influence of Stories on Mother and Her Encouragement to Enlist 24:30 Describing Grandpa 27:08 Childhood Dreams 28:25 Lack of Representation and Its Impact 30:48 High School, the ASVAP, and Military Enlistment 35:30 Becoming a Cop in the Air Force 37:26 Challenges of Being a Black Female Cop 39:47 Camaraderie and Dynamics in the Military 44:30 Branch Rivalries and Military Culture 47:16 Outro and Conclusion Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Steve, American and Italian of Chinese descent - Dating and relationships | 17 Feb 2024 | 01:14:00 | |
This interview was recorded on June 1, 2022. Steve is a 36 year-old photographer who lives in New York City. He was born in China, raised in Italy, and now lives in the United States. He takes us through his early dating history, reflects on challenges he faced as an Asian male, and shares observations and what he learned along the way. Check out Steve’s photography at Stevegongphoto.com and follow him on instagram @stevegong. If you are interested in a follow-up part two episode with Steve, please send us a message on instagram @thecultureful to let us know. And, feel free to send any questions you would like included in the interview. Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Sheng, Taiwanese American - Becoming a hockey reporter | 03 Jan 2024 | 01:06:59 | |
This interview was recorded on May 27, 2022. Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Segolene, French American - Growing up | 09 Nov 2023 | 00:41:47 | |
Segolene is a 35-year-old French American Hollywood executive and entrepreneur who grew up in California and Texas and now lives in Los Angeles. She reflects on growing up in a French household in the U.S. and navigating two cultures and languages for school, friendship, dating, work, and more. Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Cultureful (Trailer) | 02 Nov 2023 | 00:02:12 | |
This is the trailer for the podcast. Here's the transcript! Jess: [00:00:00] Dear listener, hi, I'm Jess. I'm a Taiwanese American, my husband is Sri Lankan Tamil, I'm multilingual, and I'm very interested in culture. I am particularly interested in how people like you and me from different backgrounds and places live their lives. I love hearing about firsthand experiences. In my 20s and early 30s, I had the privilege to live abroad for over seven years in many places ranging from a rural village in Luapula, Zambia, to busy metropolitan Bangkok, from a small town in Honduras, to a port city in Morocco. One of my favorite things to do is to get to know people, to learn about places and cultures through its people, one on one, up close. It challenges stereotypes and biases I didn't know I had. And it's just fun. I enjoy meeting people and hearing their stories, and they fascinate me, and I have lots of questions. I [00:01:00] also love up close conversations about people's lives because it gets me outside my own culture, my own assumptions about how a life should be. It reminds me that there are many ways we can go about our human existence and spend our time on this planet. So I'm starting a podcast. It's called Cultureful. I interview friends and other guests from around the world about personal experiences. Sometimes we talk about major life events and stages like childhood, dating, weddings, parenting, and immigration journeys. But we also talk about the everyday. I'm curious about what people cook, what they do for fun, what friendship is like for them. These things that make up a life are what I love about culture. If this is the kind of thing you enjoy, check out the podcast. Cultureful. Living, breathing, everyday, you and me culture. It's a kind of traveling. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts. It's just getting [00:02:00] started, so subscribe to support and find out when new episodes drop. It's also on Instagram @thecultureful. Thanks and hope you give it a listen. Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Aisha, Part 3. Pakistani American - Be Tamed | 26 Aug 2025 | 01:02:00 | |
Episode photo credit: Asher Imtiaz https://www.asherimtiaz.com/ In Part 3 of Aisha’s story, we follow her journey through adolescence and young adulthood as she navigates loss, family, and identity. After losing her father during childhood—a central figure in her life and a source of deep love—Aisha grapples with childhood grief, searches for a sense of home, and learns to code-switch between different cultural contexts and varying expressions of Islam across Muslim communities. This episode explores themes of growing up, father-daughter love, childhood bereavement, feminism, belonging, and the complexities of Pakistani American and Muslim identity. Full episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/nVBFYxkMvPs Follow Aisha: On Instagram @aishafsarwari and @heart_tantrums Her memoir is called Heart Tantrums and Brain Tumours and can be ordered on from Hurst Publishers at https://www.hurstpublishers.com/profile/aisha-sarwari/ Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Aisha, Part 2. Pakistani American - Dahlias, Dupattas, and the Last Born | 12 Aug 2025 | 00:45:02 | |
In this second part of our 4-part conversation, Aisha Sarwari shares vivid stories of her childhood in Uganda as the youngest in her family. She recalls her mother sewing dupattas for her and her sister, the blooming dahlias in their garden, and the deep love she felt for her father. Aisha reflects on her lifelong connection to nature, her gratitude for growing up surrounded by it, and what it meant to be a minority in Uganda in the shadow of historical events like the expulsion of Asians. Through her lens as part of the Pakistani diaspora in Africa, Aisha offers a personal glimpse into family bonds, cultural identity, and resilience. Watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PUcwG6PPWHo If you haven’t listened to Part 1, start there to catch the beginning of Aisha’s story. Follow Aisha: On Instagram @aishafsarwari and @heart_tantrums Her memoir is called Heart Tantrums and Brain Tumours and can be ordered on from Hurst Publishers at https://www.hurstpublishers.com/profile/aisha-sarwari/ Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Aisha, Part 1. Pakistani American - Street Fighter, Parkour, and the Original Audiobook | 29 Jul 2025 | 00:49:30 | |
In the Season 2 premiere of Cultureful, host Jess Lin talks with Aisha Sarwari, a 43-year-old Pakistani American women's rights activist, author and public speaker, and corporate communications expert, and public speaker based in Atlanta. Aisha shares about her family’s multi-generational migration story—from India to Uganda and Kenya and eventually to Pakistan and the U.S.—intertwining personal history with major events like India’s Partition and the expulsion of Asians from Uganda. In this episode, she reflects on her parents’ backgrounds and communities. This is the first of a four-part conversation full of insight, complexity, nuance, and heart. Watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/OpffD_p_NZg Follow Aisha: On Instagram @aishafsarwari https://instagram.com/aishafsarwari On Youtube @aishasarwari2134 https://youtube.com/@aishasarwari2134?si=q-4af45REWM201X9 Her memoir is called Heart Tantrums and Brain Tumours and can be ordered on from Hurst Publishers at https://www.hurstpublishers.com/profile/aisha-sarwari/ Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Season 2 Trailer | 26 Jul 2025 | 00:01:20 | |
Trailer for Season 2, which drops THIS TUESDAY, July 29th, 2025! Interviews of epic family migration stories, exploring identity and love, and much more. Spanning cultures, geographies, and intersecting with historical moments like India's partition. Subscribe now and catch new episodes every other Tuesday. Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Stefanee, Filipino and Spanish American - I had a Michael Jackson Childhood | 12 Jul 2025 | 01:00:13 | |
In the Season 1 finale of Cultureful, host Jess Lin talks with Stefanee Clontz, a 44-year-old Filipino and Spanish American working mom and Director of Operations at Hydra+, a medical spa in Atlanta. Stefanee shares what she calls her “Michael Jackson childhood,” her evolving connection to her Asian American identity, and how that connection has grown over time. She also opens up about the balance of not only work and family, but also finding time for herself. Thanks for listening to Season 1. Stay tuned—Season 2 is coming soon. Watch the video on Youtube https://youtu.be/WL2T5pvHkt8 Follow Stefanee on instagram @stefaneeclontz or Hydra+ @thehydraplus Her podcast is called “Does this Podcast Make Me Sound Fat” Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Denetra, Part 2. Black American - I have to know my purpose | 04 Apr 2025 | 00:54:50 | |
Join Jess Lin in Part 2 of her conversation with Denetra, as they discuss her son DeAndre's life journey from high school graduation to battling cancer. Denetra opens up about DeAndre's work and love life, his fight with osteosarcoma, and the impacts of his illness. She also shares her own experience with grief, healing, and how she channels her energy into projects like Smiley Connections LLC to support other parents who have lost children. Listen to Denetra's story and learn about her efforts to pass a bill for more bereavement leave in Georgia, as well as her dream of organizing a healing retreat for grieving parents. Watch this podcast on Youtube: https://youtu.be/mueMkRh8YPk Find out more about Denetra’s work: https://smileyconnectionsllc.org/ Donate to the On the Road to Healing Retreat: https://gofund.me/0899b5e4 Denetra's TikTok: smileyconnectionsllc Denetra's Instagram: @smileyconnections
Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Denetra, Part 1. Black American - DeAndre always had the biggest smile | 28 Mar 2025 | 00:49:11 | |
In honor of Women's History Month, host Jess Lin sits down with Denetra Smiley, a 54-year-old African American medical coder from the Gullah Geechee community, now living in Acworth, Georgia. Denetra shares her personal story, her son DeAndre's story, and her path through grief and healing after DeAndre’s passed from cancer. Denetra speaks candidly about her childhood, the importance of her cultural roots, the example of her parents’ marriage, her experiences raising two sons, and the founding of her support group- Parents who have lost a child/children support group on Facebook, and her business: Smiley Connections LLC, which assists parents who have lost a child. This is part one of a two-part conversation, with the second part dropping next week. Watch the video recording on YouTube, along with shared photos for a more immersive experience. Watch this podcast on Youtube: https://youtu.be/e1w5YTYnrE0?si=22UgQ0YZaT4SmFPn Find out more about Denetra’s work: https://smileyconnectionsllc.org/ Donate to the On the Road to Healing Retreat: https://gofund.me/0899b5e4 Denetra's TikTok: smileyconnectionsllc Denetra's Instagram: @smileyconnections
Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||
| Tina, Part 2. Taiwanese Chinese American - You water it and it grows | 11 Feb 2025 | 00:49:18 | |
In this episode of Cultureful, host Jess Lin continues her conversation with Tina, exploring her experience with intercultural marriage and raising multicultural children. Tina, a Taiwanese Chinese American woman, discusses the cultural differences between her upbringing and her Russian Ukrainian American husband's family. The episode covers how Tina navigated these differences, the challenges of blending their cultural backgrounds, and their parenting styles, which focus on positive discipline, financial literacy, and fostering a love of learning. Tina also shares insights into her family's daily routines, the influence of grandparents, and their efforts to maintain cultural heritage through language and traditions. The episode concludes with Tina's aspirations for urban homesteading and her hopes for creating a compassionate and empathetic world. Thanks so much for listening! Follow, review, and share to help us grow. More info about the show. Trailers are posted on Instagram @thecultureful https://instagram.com/thecultureful | |||